Rite Aid Retail Archaeologist Uncovers Full-Price VHS Movie

It’s not out of the question that someone might want to purchase a copy of the film version of “A Series of Unfortunate Events. It’s not difficult to imagine that they might even pick it up at Rite-Aid, and that they might be willing to pay $20 for an eight-year-old movie. What caught reader Jay’s attention, though, was that the film was in his local pharmacy’s discount DVD bin, at full price––and on VHS.

What Jay missed, of course, is that this isn’t a VHS tape at all: it’s actually yet another of the clever disguises of Count Olaf.

The other explanation, that this stunning retail archaeology find has just been languishing on the shelf for years, is too sad.

And these auto-rewinding platters that the kids use for movies and music these days are amazing. I remember my first Betamax player just played, none of this fancy-pants rewind or fast-forward. Of course, when the movie was over you had to take it out, stick your finger in the spindle, and twirl it around your head like a New Year’s Eve noisemaker to rewind it.

It’s interesting how inflation affects some sectors, not other. Now, a much better (arguably) piece of technology – blueray player – goes for $50 – $250. The dollar actually goes much further today than in ’86 when it comes to home entertainment.

Not to mention a no frills desktop IBM-PC clone would have set you back about two to three thousand dollars. An entry level PC today costs about a tenth of that, or even less in 1989 dollars. Yet comparing the two in terms of performance would be like comparing a pair of roller skates to a Maserati.

True, but demand has a lot to do with it. The same turntable I bought in 1985 for $60 now sells used for more than that. Any $60 turntable you buy today is garbage compared to what you could get in the ’80s.

Amazon has this movie on DVD for $6.45, or on VHS for $3.45. I’m sure the VHS version will satisfy anyone who thinks that DVDs is just a passing fad, and that they have no need for something faster than dial-up Internet.

I’m sitting here looking at a relic from my home video collection. It’s the very first prerecorded movie on VHS I ever bought. I didn’t even have a player at home at the time but we had some of the very first VHS machines where I worked at the time, some Panasonic industrial types and I used to bring one home from time to time. The date on the box for the layout and package design says copyright 1980 by WCI (Warner) Home Video. The movie is “Monty Python’s Life of Brian”.

I remember paying well over a hundred bucks for it at the time. Not too long ago I bought the same movie on blu-ray for about $10.